Exhibiting apparatus for moving pictures.



F. L. DYER & D. HOLDEN.

EXHIBITING APPARATUS FOR MOVING 'PIGTURES.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.Z1,1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1. v

1 Witnesses 36 Inventors M (6)- MW 031M M A ttomey F. L. DYER & D.HOLDEN.

EXHIBITING APPARATUS FOR MOVING PICTURES.

APPLIOATION FILED Ill-10.21.1905.

937,779. Patented Oct. 26, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Witnesses 'l IHVCIItOIJ MQNMW, 73 a AM. a 1 4444/ L 4% MW 0 V I Q 0h M.9 .V A ttorneys.

UNITED sTArEs PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK L. DYER, OF MONTOLAIR, AND DE'LOS HOLDEN, OE ORANGE, NEW JERSEY,

ASSIGNORS T0 EDISON MANUFACTURING GOHPANY, OF WEST ORANGE, NEW JER- SEY,A. CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

EXHIBITING APPARATUS FOR MOVING PICTURES.

Specification 011 Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 26, 1909.

Application filed December 21, 1905. Serialno. 292,834.

citizen of the United States, and a resident of Montclair, in the countyof Essex and State of New Jersey, and DELos HOLDEN, a

citizen of the United States, and'a resident of Orange, in the county ofEssex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Exhibiting Apparatus for Moving Pictures, of which thefollowing is .a description.

Our invention relates to apparatusfor the exhibition of moving picturefilms of the type disclosed and claimed by us in our a plication filedOctober 21, 1905, Serial 0. 283,838, wherein the. photographs arearranged in two arithmetical series the members of which alternate, andone series being shifted longitudinally of the film with respect to theother series, so that the pictures do not follow each other on the filmin a regular numerical sequence, but the pictures of one series arepreceded by pictures of the other series which are representative oflater phases of movement, whereby it becomes possible to exhibit thepictures of the two series in proper numerical order at separate displayopenings situated at some distance from each other by intermittentlymoving the film at each opening in alternation a distance equal to thelength of two adjacent pictures. The pictures of one series are allexhibited at one display opening and the pictures of the other series atthe other opening and there may be a continuous and uninterruptedexhibition of stationary photographs somewhat analogous to theexhlbition of dissolving views, and flickering entirely eliminated. Inan application filed by us November 6, 1905, Serial No. 285,999, we havedisclosed and broadly claimed an apparatus adapted for the exhibition ofmoving pictures of this type and more specificall an apparatus in whichthe li ht is reflecte by means of a number of re ecting mirrors orprisms situated at various points in the path of the light. The presentimprovements relate to an apparatus of this general type in which thenumber of reflectin surfaces is greatly reduced, thereby simpli ying theapparatus and lessening the cost of manufac- 7 ture.

In the present application as well as that prises apparatus having twoexposure openings across which both series ofphotographs are moved insuch a way that the photographs of one series will be successively displayed at one exposure openingwhile the photographs of the other serieswill be suecessively and alternately displayed at the other opening andpreferably having means for combining or progressively displaying theilluminated pictures of the exposure openings, thereby eliminatingflickering,

since the amount of light entering the eye will be constant.

In both applications, the apparatus also comprises a single objectivecombined with reflecting surfaces so arranged that the images of thephotographs successively and alternately brought to rest at the two ex-'posure openings will be successively and alternately projected throughthe objective upon a suitable screen. In the preferred form of apparatusin the said application,

Serial No. 285,999 light from a single source is reflected into twoparallel beams which illuminate the two exposure openings and the lightfrom said openings is alternately directed into a common path by a pairof reciprocating reflectors placed end' to end. Thesereflectorsperform asingle function, that is, each one changes the path of the beam of lightwhich it is adapted to receive. According to the present invention, asingle reciprocating reflector is used for performing'a double function,that is, it acts as a reflector for one of the beams of light and as ashutter to cut oil the other beam of light. In the said apparatus ofapplication, Serial No. 285,999, the illuminating light is divided intotwo beams by stationary reflectors soplaced as to properly divide thesaid beam. This structure obviously requires a beam of light ofsuflicient cross-section to permit it to be divided into two beams eachof sufficient size for illuminating an exposure opening. According tothe present inven-' tion we propose to introduce a reflecting surfacebetween the source of light and the exposure "openings which performs adouble function-that is, in one position it reflects the entireilluminating beam to one exposure 0 ening and acts as a shutter whichcuts 0 the light from the other exposure opening and in its otherextreme position it reflects none of the light to the first exposureopening, but permits it all to pass to the other exposure opening,whereby the crosssection of the illuminating beam may be sufficientforthe illumination of only one opening, thereby permitting a smallerlamp to be used, or in case the same lamp is used, the beam may be moreconcentrated and therefore more intense.

In order that the invention may be better understood, attention isdirected to the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisspecification and in which- Figure 1 is a vertical section showing thenovel elements of a projecting machine embodying our invention, thepaths of light being indicated in dotted lines; Fig. 2 is a frontelevation showing the fixed and movable prisms as viewed from the rightof Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic vertical sectional view similar toFig. 1 of a modification of the invention; Fig. 4 is a view showing theprisms of Fig. 3 as viewed from the right; Figs. 5, 6 and 7, arerespectively, a sectional elevation, a plan partly in section, and anisometric view of a second modification of the invention; Fig. 8 is adetail view showing how the film used in the apparatus of Figs. 5, 6 and7 may be produced from a negative film; Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic planview of a. third modification of the invention; and Fig. 10 is adiagrammatic elevation of a fourth modification.

In all of the above views corresponding parts are represented by thesame characters of reference.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, the mech-- anism shown comprises meansfor intermittently feeding the film 1 at two different points inalternation, the periods of movement in each case being equal to orpreferably slightly less than the periods of rest. Any suitable andappropriate mechanism may be used for this purpose, the one shown beinga common form of pin and star wheel movement, the two star wheels 4 and5 being ntermittently rotated by disks 6 and 7 hav ing pins 8, 8thereon. Mechanism of this type is well known, being employed in the Elson projecting kinetoscope and other pro jecting machines now on themarket. The star wheel 4 communicates its intermittent movement. to thesprocket 9 on the same shaft and the star wheel 5 similarly drives thesprocket 10. The film 1 is provided with the usual perforated edges andsuccessively engages and is driven by thesprockets 9 and 10, being heldin engagement therewith with the usual idlers 1 2;, 12. Above the feedsprockets 9 and -lO'are plates 13 and 14 secured to a suitable supportand provided with the usual windows 15 and16 in'which the pictures willbe illuminated. These windows are situated at the same focal distancefrom the pmiecting lens measured of course along the path of the light.Below the plates 15 and 16 the usual gates 17, 17

are hinged in any suitable way so that they may be readily opened topermit the film to be threaded over the feed sprockets, as will beunderstood. The film 1 is first engaged with a continuously operatedsprocket 18 forming a loop 19 before reaching the first or upperexposure opening 15.

A second loop 20 1s formed in the film between the feed sprocket 9 andsecond or lower exposure opening 16. Preferably a third loop 21 isformed in the film between the feed sprocket 10 and a continuouslyoperated sprocket 22 over which the film passes to the takeup reel. Anydesired arrangement of gears may be employed for driving the severalintermittent and continuously operating. sprockets constituting the feedmechanism. Preferably a large driving gear 24 engages spur gears on theshafts of the two pin disks 6 and 7 and the sprockets 18 and 22 areshown for simplicity as driven by crossed belts which are indicated bydotted lines.

Directly behind the projecting lens or eye piece of the apparatus is areciprocating retlector 25, preferably a prism held in a frame 26, whichwill be mounted in a suitable guide in the supporting frame so as tomaintain an accurate position with respect to the pro jecting lens andthe exposure openings, and which will be reciprocated by any suitablemechanism, as a connecting rod 27 operated by a crank 28 on the shaft 29said shaft being driven in any suitable manner, as by means of bevelgears 30 and 31, the latter being mounted on the shaft 32 which carriesthe disk 6. A fixed prism 33 is suitably mounted in a frame 34 andoccupies a posltion directly back of the projecting lens and directlyabove the exposure opening 15 so that the light from the opening will bedirected by the prism 33 into the said lens when the prism 25 occupiesthe position shown in Fig. 2; but obviously when the prism 25 moveslaterally it acts as a shutter cutting ofi theimage of the photograph atthe opening 15 from the objective 0, and this prism will at the sametime direct the light from the opening 16 into the objective. The frame26 does not extend beyond the free end of the prism 25, (see Fig. 2) andthe resultof the progressive, movement of the end of the prism acrossthe objective is therefore to direct into the objective that portion ofthe light passing from the opening 15 to the objective. The throw of thecrank 28 and the width of the prism 25 are such and they are socordinated with the intermittent feed sprockets 9 and 10 that the prism25 cuts off the light from the prism 33 during the entire interval thatthe intermittent sprocket 9 is feeding the film past the opening 15, andthe image from the exposure opening 15 is reflected by the prism 33 intothe objective.

while the sprocket 9 is at rest; this image 1s cut off by the prism 25and the image at the exposure opening 16 is reflected by said prismwhile the feed sprocket 10 is at rest, the end of the prism 25 movingentirely across the field of the objective while both feed sprockets areat rest. Movement of the feed sprocket 9 is effected only when the prism25 covers the entire field of the opening 15, and on the other hand thefeed sprocket 10 does not move until the prism 25 is moved suflicientlyfar to one side as to reflect no light from the opening 16.

' The film used by us with our improved exhibiting apparatus is of thetype described in our application Serial No. 283,838 before referred to,in which the pictures are arranged in two arithmetical series, thoserepresenting even numbered pictures (2, 4, 6, etc.) being shiftedlengthwise of the film so as to be alternately disposed with respect tothe odd numbered pictures and be preceded by pictures representing laterphases of movement, for instance, the second picture may be arrangedbetween the seventh and ninth pictures, but obviously, the two seriesmay be shifted to a greater or less extent, depending upon the distancebet-ween the exposure openings 15 and 16 and the extent of the loop 20,and must permit the ex posure of a photograph of one series attheexposure opening 15, and the following photograph of the other series atthe exposure opening 16. The, feed sprockets 9 and 10 should be twicethe size of those ordinarily used in order to feed the film two picturesat a time, or any other suitable mechanism to effect this result may beused. In this way the pictures of one series will be exhibited at theexposure opening 15 and the pictures of the other series will besuccessively and alternately exhibited at the exposure opening 16. Atall times there will be projected either a simple image or a compositeimage, so that the element of persistence of vision does not have to beconsidered. Furthermore since the light ad-.

mitted to the objective is always uniform, no flickering can take place.

The illumination can be furnished by any suitable source, for instance,an arc lamp as shown in Fig. 1, where the lamp and condenser are showndiagrammatically at L and b. When a single lamp is used the light may bereflected to the two exposure open- 'ings by mirrors or prisms 35 and36. It

will be understood of course, that instead of using a single source oflight twoseparate sources of light may be employed and in this case theprisms 35 and 36 may be dispensed with and the beams of light proceeddirectly from their source to the openings 15 and 16.

The apparatus of Figs. 3 and 4: is exactly similar to that of Figs. 1and 2 except that the fixed prism 35 is replaced by a reciprocatingprism 37. This prism in one of its extreme positions (as in Fig. 4)receives the entire beam oflight a and reflects the same upwardly to theexposure opening 15 and permits no light to pass to the opening 16. Inits other extreme position it permits the entire beam of light to passto the prism 36 by which it is reflected to the exposure opening 16. Theprism 37 may be reciprocated by any suitable mechanism, and we haveshown for this purpose a shaft 38 provided at one end with a bevel gear39 for engaging the gear 31 of the shaft 32, and carrying at its lowerend a crank 40 which operates the connecting rod 41 pivoted to the frame42 which holds the prism 37. In Fig. 4 the prism 37 is at its extremeright hand position and would be concealed by the prism 36 but thelatter is broken away in this view to show part of the prism 37 behindthe same. The prism 37 in this po-.

sition reflects the entire beam of light upward to the opening 15, andsince the prism 25 is in its extreme right hand position the light fromthe opening 15 passes into the objective of the instrument. Obviously asthe prism 25 moves toward the left so as to form a composite image oftheleft hand portion of the picture displayed at the opening 15 and theright hand portion of the picture at 16., the prism 37 moves in the samedirection thus permitting the necessary illuminating light to pass tothe right hand portion of the picture at 16, while the left hand portionof the picture at 15 is still illuminated by a portion of the prism 37.In the extreme left hand posit-ion of 37 the illuminating beam allpasses to the prism 36 and is reflected to the picture at 16. The prism37 is of suificient width to illuminate the opening 15 during the entireinterval of rest of the picture at said opening. The

In all moving picture films commonly used, the photographs are oblong inshape, the longest dlmension being transverse with respect to the bodyof the film as in the film e of Fig. 8, such films being run through theprojecting apparatus in such a way that the pictures vlewed on thescreen will be of greater width than height, this being the most desrable form of picture. In other words the images produced by theexposure openings must have their shortest dimension vertical whenpassed through the projecting lens. It is also extremely desirable thatin case the exposure openings are to be illuminated by a single beam oflight that they be so placed as to occupy the least space, that is,instead of placing them so that the oblongs are end to endthat is, sothat their longest dimensions are added to each other, they should beplaced so that the shortest dimensions are added to each other, wherebythe circular beam of illuminating light may be of the least possiblediameter. In order to effect these results we place one exposure opening15 immediately above the exposure opening 16 and in order that the saidopenings may be at the same focal distance from the objective c theopening 16 is in advance of the opening 15. These openings are ofgreater width than height. The film (Z is provided with photographswhose longest dimension is in the direction of the length of thefilm,and is intermittently moved across the opening 15 in a horizontaldirection by an intermittent feed sprocket 9 forming a loop 20, passingthence horizontally across the opening 16 to the intermittent sprocketl0 and then to a take-up reel. Directly behind the objective 0 is areciprocating prism 25 which alternately cuts off the light from theopening 15 and reflects the light from the opening 16' into theobjective 0 as previously described. A fixed prism 43 is situateddirectly in front of the opening 16 and below the prism 25. Thearrangement of pictures upon the film (i so that their long dimension isin the direction of the length of the film may be obtained from anordinary negative 6 by causing the two films to travel intermittently indirections at right angles to each other as illustrated in Fig. 8, thefilm d traveling faster than the film 6 so that it moves a distanceequal to the long dimension while the film 6 moves a distance equal tothe short dimension, the printing of course being done while both filmsare stationary.

In Fig. 9 only one reflecting surface is used, namely, that of thereciprocating prism 25 placed directly behind the objective 0.

Two sources of light f and g are used for illuminating the exposureopenings 15 and 16 the film it being provided with pictures whoselongest dimension is in the direction of the length of the film. Theopenings 15 and 16 are at the same focal distance from sew/7e theobjective 0 and the prism 25 operates as previously described. The filmit crosses the path of light from the source 9 only once, namely, ,atthe opening 16 a loop being formed between the openings 15 and 16 ofsufficient extent to allow the film to pass either above or below saidlight when between said openings.

The apparatus of Fig. 10 is exactly similar to that of Fig. 5 exceptthat the reciprocating prism 25 is reversed so as to act as a reflectorfor the light from the opening 15 and as a shutter for'the light from 16A fixed prism 50 receives the light from 15 and 16 in alternation anddirects the same horizontally into the objective. Each beam is thereforereflected twice.

Having now described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is as follows 1. In a picture exhibitingapparatus, the combination of a frame or body having a pair of displayopenings, a single objective,

means for illuminating the fields of said openings, one of said fieldsbeing fixedly in optical alinement with said objective, and movablemeans comprising a reflecting surface reciprocating in right lines forpro gressively cutting off the light from said field and simultaneouslydirecting the light from the other field into the objective,substantially as set forth.

2. In a picture exhibiting apparatus, the combination of a single sourceof light, a single objective, a frame or body having a pair of displayopenings situated at equal focal distances from said objective, andcooperating means for simultaneously and progressively cutting off theilluminating light from one opening andthe light passing from saidopening into the objective, substantially as set forth.

3. In a picture exhibiting apparatus, the combination of a singleobjective, a frame or body having a pair of display openings in opticalalinement therewith, fixed means for illuminating one of said openings,and a reflector movable in a straight line across the path of theilluminating light for progressively cutting it off from said last namedopening and simultaneously directing it to that portion of the otheropening which corresponds optically with that portion of the openingwhich is masked by said moving member, substantially as set forth.

4. In a picture exhibiting apparatus, the combination of a singleobjective, a frame or body having a pair of display openings in opticalalinement therewith, a fixed reflector for directing the light from oneof said openings into the objective, and a reciproeating reflector thatsimultaneously reflects the light from the other opening into theobjective and cuts off the light from the fixed reflector, substantiallyas set forth.

5. In a picture exhibiting apparatus, the combination of a singleobjective, a frame or body having a pair of display openings, a fixedprism for directing the light from one 5 opening into the objectiye, anda reciprocating prlsm for progressively directing the light from theother opening into the objective and simultaneously cutting off thelight from the first prism, substantially as 10 and for the purposes setforth.

6. In a picture exhibiting apparatus, the

combination of a single objective, a frame or

